HOWTO: Kernel Compilation for Newbies

[tseliot]

hi!

got my new kernel (2.6.10). i did everything as you said. when i run my system i get this when hal is being loaded

[W] hald.d:302 : your kernel does not support capabilities; some features will not be aviable

everything works fine so i dont care much about it (now).

when i try to set dma on my dvd i get exacly the same thing as before.

copter@xidge:~$ hdparm -d1 /dev/dvd

/dev/dvd:
 setting using_dma to 1 (on)
 HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Permission denied
 using_dma    =  0 (off)

i have no idea what to do now to record and use my dvd. ive read all threads on this forum and did all the tricks people posted. nothing seems to work on my computer.

copter :]

1)Have you tried tranferring some big files from a CD to your harddisk, have you noticed slowdowns? (if not try it)

2) If you noticed slowdowns you can download the latest kernel (2.6.12-4) (from kernel.org) (which is more compatible than 2.6.11 and 2.6.10) and compile it from that source.

be sure you do this: "sudo rm /usr/src/linux", then you can follow the HOWTO again.

[luca_linux]

sudo hdparm...

[Copter]

ok. i will try newer kernel.

ofc sudo hdparm . unfortunatly it doesnt change anything here.

about speed

copter@xidge:~$ sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/dvd

/dev/dvd:
 Timing cached reads:   1112 MB in  2.01 seconds = 554.42 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:    6 MB in  3.38 seconds =   1.77 MB/sec

the same as before

copter :]

[tseliot]

ok. i will try newer kernel.

ofc sudo hdparm . unfortunatly it doesnt change anything here.

about speed

copter@xidge:~$ sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/dvd

/dev/dvd:
 Timing cached reads:   1112 MB in  2.01 seconds = 554.42 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:    6 MB in  3.38 seconds =   1.77 MB/sec

the same as before

copter :]

Ok try kernel 2.6.12-4 then.

[Copter]

Ok try kernel 2.6.12-4 then.

btw. when i was previously setting the architecture i have selected "PIV / Celeron(based on PIV)..." because i have Celeron 2.6GHz (478 pins) based od PIV. generated files looked like that

kernel-headers-2.6.10-ctr01_10.00.Custom_i386.deb
kernel-image-2.6.10-ctr01_10.00.Custom_i386.deb

shouldnt they end with i686? also directory usr/src/kernel-headers-2.6.10-ctr01/arch/i386 was created. is that ok?

(sorry for being such a horrible pain in the ass...)

EDIT: ive found that my architecture is defined _in_ i386 files, so probably everything is ok.

copter :]

[tseliot]

btw. when i was previously setting the architecture i have selected "PIV / Celeron(based on PIV)..." because i have Celeron 2.6GHz (478 pins) based od PIV. generated files looked like that

kernel-headers-2.6.10-ctr01_10.00.Custom_i386.deb
kernel-image-2.6.10-ctr01_10.00.Custom_i386.deb

shouldnt they end with i686? also directory usr/src/kernel-headers-2.6.10-ctr01/arch/i386 was created. is that ok?

(sorry for being such a horrible pain in the ass...)

EDIT: ive found that my architecture is defined _in_ i386 files, so probably everything is ok.

copter :]

I think everything's ok. i386.deb is the extension for 32bit systems. In 64bit systems it would be amd64.deb. Don't you worry, this is the right place to learn (and to ask) something.

[cutOff]

Great and useful howto. Thanks a lot tseliot.

[tseliot]

Great and useful howto. Thanks a lot tseliot.

De nada.. Es que esta comunidad es como una grande familia

[Copter]

ive got the newest stable kernel aviable (released yesterday). here is what ive got also:

- multiple errors during boot

Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: md: md driver 0.90.1 MAX_MD_DEVS=256, MD_SB_DISKS=27
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: dm-linear: Device lookup failed
Aug 16 16:08:12 localhost kernel: device-mapper: error adding target to table

- some errors with ALSA (i dont know in where the boot log is. cant recall them)
- cant mount ntfs partitions
- and ofc ::

copter@xidge:~$ sudo hdparm -d 1 /dev/cdrom
Password:

/dev/cdrom:
 setting using_dma to 1 (on)
 HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted
 using_dma    =  0 (off)
copter@xidge:~$ sudo hdparm -d 1 /dev/dvd

/dev/dvd:
 setting using_dma to 1 (on)
 HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted
 using_dma    =  0 (off)
copter@xidge:~$ sudo hdparm -d 1 /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
 setting using_dma to 1 (on)
 HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted
 using_dma    =  0 (off)

copter@xidge:~$ cat /etc/hdparm.conf

# bla bla bla. some commented stuff

/dev/hda {
        dma = on
}

im really sick and tired of this

this is my second month of linux usage. i did not touch Windows since then. i really really like this OS but there are 2 thing are forceing me to go back to Win

1) < 2mb cd/dvd to hdd transfer rate (i did not pay 100$ for dvd-ram to have this kind of crap). im trying to fix this doing every trick i can find

2) 150 fps at fglxgears with mesa drivers and permanent system hang / freeze with any other drivers using any app that uses gl for 3D. ive read loads of howto's, texts and other info about this. nothing helps.

copter :]

[tseliot]

Dear Copter I understand your frustration. I solved my problems (well, before my motherboard decided to pass away) by installing a Breezy kernel, then compiling a new one (from Breezy kernel tree sources) by using sudo make oldconfig (so as to use Breezy kernel's settings) and tweaking the kernel with menuconfig (only for DMA). However Breezy kernel could be buggy (well, not that buggy).

I did this because Breezy sources have some useful patches which can solve lots of problems (I also had the errors about the device mapper before installing a Breezy kernel).

If you want to try this way you should be aware that the driver of your graphic card will not compile the modules in the traditional way. You will have to follow these steps before launching the installer:

Install Gcc 3.4 in synaptic

Then, in the command line, before launching the installer of the drivers, type:

CC=gcc-3.4 (here you have to put the number of the gcc you used to compile your kernel, which is 3.4 in my case*)

export CC

Only in this way they will work.

I'm sorry but I can't help with ATI's proprietary driver as I've never tried them. My desktop computer is broken (I hope Compaq is fixing it), my laptop (with an ATI card) has a broken cdreader and a crazy battery. I can't risk to screw it up (I need it for my thesis) so I prefer not to try to install your drivers.

Keep in mind that my computer was highly Linux unfriendly and I had to learn how to make it work properly under Linux. For this reasons I've decided to help newbies because I know how hard it can be with some hardware (on the other hand Ubuntu worked out of the box on my laptop).

A little patience and we'll make things work.